Nobody's Fool
by HeadGirlInTraining
Summary: Draco Malfoy plots out his next move after the events of OotP, and his plans are not exactly what you think they are.


Draco Malfoy is nobody's fool.  
  
I think that there aren't enough people who understand that. I'm not someone's puppet; I'm not the inevitable result of my upbringing. I know that's what everyone thinks, that I am just a miniature version of daddy dearest. That I'm going to be first in line to join the Death Eaters when I graduate from Hogwarts.  
  
They couldn't be more wrong.  
  
Father is, quite frankly, an idiot. He's a powerful wizard, of course, if not totally in the purely magical sense. But when it comes to the important things, the essential elements that makes one a permanent success, he is a failure. His failings aren't entirely his fault, of course. He's had his nearly fanatical beliefs ingrained in him for his entire life, just as I have had the same beliefs shoved down my throat. He's clung to that idea of superiority like it's the most precious thing he has. He believes that being a pure blood is what makes him superior.  
  
As I said, he is an idiot.  
  
Oh, certainly, I play the role, I espouse the beliefs I am "supposed" to. But that doesn't mean I buy into them. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely believe that I am superior to those around me. But it has nothing to do with the blood that runs in my veins and everything to do with my mind. This doesn't mean that I'm going to become some tree-hugging Hufflepuff, an annoyingly academic Ravenclaw, or, Salazar forbid, some fool-hardy Gryffindor, running around half-cocked, claiming "bravery" as an excuse for any dreadful behavior.  
  
Oh no, I'm all Slytherin. I realize how immensely more important it is that I make my life as first-class as I can than it is for me to make some sweeping difference in the world. To hell with the world; they're not me, so why should I care? I'm not here to be the sacrificial lamb. I'm here to take my lot and do with it the best I can. So that's why I play as father's fool, doing the dance he likes best, all the while scoffing at his outrageous behavior. Sometimes it's hard to restrain myself; he's so willing to throw away absolutely everything for his ridiculous Dark Lord, another power-hungry fool that would have made Salazar Slytherin scream in disgust.  
  
Don't they get it at all? Don't they have a clue? He didn't want to get rid of the mudbloods because they tainted our kind. What a stupid thing to assume. But that's father; taking in the picture without reading the caption, believing that if someone in a position of real power tells you something, then you have to take him at his word. The real reason Salazar wanted to get rid of the mudbloods was not because they were a threat to the race, but because they were a threat to him. This is, of course, Slytherin logic and self-protection of the highest order. It's all a matter of knowing who your enemies are. If everyone is a pureblood, there are never any surprises. You always know who has the real power, who is a real threat, because every family knows all of the other families in every generation. But if a mudblood comes along, who knows that he or she will do? What he or she is capable of? Salazar saw this, but knew he could never make the lay man understand it, because most people aren't deserving or even aware of the kind of power he had. But start rumblings about "dirty" blood, get people scared, and then you have a fanatical movement. When you think about it, it really is rather bloody brilliant (no pun intended, as Draco Malfoy does not speak in puns). Salazar was looking out for no one more than himself.  
  
However, it seems that those who were expected to truly understand the message either lost it over the years or missed it entirely. And now we find ourselves here, on the brink of war, perfectly good Slytherins lining up to sacrifice themselves for a "cause" (how absolutely Gryffindor...) simply because people are too daft to figure out that a wizard 1000 years ago was trying to succeed in damage control.  
  
Well, I'm not them, and I'm not going to be them. Though I'm sure that father's stay in Azkaban will be nothing if not brief, he will be unable to return to life as usual after he escapes, what with the aurors and ministry officials that will be after him. With him out of the way, I can finally act in a way that is truly befitting a Slytherin – in the way that is best for me.  
  
I will put up the front of the dutiful son for a while longer, of course. I can act as if I'm as taken with the Dark Lord as anyone else. But I also know that while I need to put on that front, I have to prepare for the time that I will "switch sides," so to speak. To anyone with half a brain, it is clear that the Dark Lord cannot win. He just can't. If the doddering fool couldn't even kill a baby, no matter what might have been done to protect the child, then he obviously isn't the sure bet. And further more, as much as I hate and loathe Potter, it's obvious that he has something that the Dark Lord does not – you don't escape his grasp four times without having some sort of special ability, and though I hate to see Potter with more qualities that would enhance his constant and sickening hero-worship, I would be as much of an idiot as my father if I ignored the evidence in front of me.  
  
So, I will bide my time, presenting one front while plotting another. As long as I seem loyal to the Dark Lord, nothing will happen to me. I won't be a target for any dark wizards to come after me, and alternatively, Dumbledore would never do anything to hurt a student. Then, when the time is right, I will make the big switch, setting myself up for glory after the eventual victory.  
  
As I said before, Draco Malfoy is nobody's fool. 


End file.
